


The Middle

by thesaddestboner



Category: Baseball RPF
Genre: Detroit Tigers, Drabble, Gen, Introspection, No Plot/Plotless, Repressed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-06
Updated: 2013-12-06
Packaged: 2018-01-03 16:13:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1072507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesaddestboner/pseuds/thesaddestboner
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>Rick hates being the middle child.</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Middle

**Author's Note:**

> Another drabble I found in a random folder on my HD.
> 
> You can find me on [twitter](http://twitter.com/thesaddestboner) and [tumblr](http://saddestboner.tumblr.com).

Rick hates being the middle child. He always has to step in between Zach and Jake, keep them from killing each other. Zach can’t stand Jake’s attitude and Jake thinks Zach as a stick up his butt. Rick is expected to mediate, and he hates it. He’d rather be doing anything else than playing umpire to his two brothers.

He’s nothing like the two of them, either. His mom jokes that Rick is adopted, and sometimes, that doesn’t seem so far off. Zach is wise, serious, the nurturer. He taught Rick how to hold his curveball, taught Jake how to ride his first two-wheeler. Jake is the funny guy of the bunch, the cut-up, the life of the party. He can walk into a room of one hundred total strangers and, by the end of the way, walk out with one hundred new friends.

Rick isn’t wise like Zach is. He’s serious, but not serious enough, not like Zach. He can be funny, but he doesn’t have the knack for comic timing that Jake does. And he certainly can’t make friends as easily as Jake.

He’s always felt kind of stuck between them, with no real identity of his own. It doesn’t help that he has these-- these _feelings_ he shouldn’t be having either.

He’s supposed to be the big star of the three of them. What Rick doesn’t have in Zach’s poise and intelligence or Jake’s humor and people skills he more than makes up for with his talent at throwing a baseball. 

He’s always on the cusp of throwing _that_ all away, though. He’s tried to reason with himself, tried to make promises with himself-- even tried to make promises to _God_ \-- but nothing’s worked. His eye always wanders from the pack of pretty girls waiting to get into the nightclub to the men standing next to them. He always sizes up his competition in the other dugout and wonders which one . . . One out of every ten, right? He always wishes he could go to a nightclub, for once, where the guys dance with guys and the girls dance with girls, and it’s normal. It’s okay.

He knows it could cost him everything.

Rick is pretty sure neither Zach nor Jake like guys, but he knows it’d probably be easier for _them_ than it is for him. Zach could bring a boyfriend home for Thanksgiving. Jake could hook up with a guy when he goes off to college. Not that Rick wants to think about his little brother hooking up with _anyone_ , let alone another dude. But still, _they_ can be with who they want to be with. _They_ can be who they want to be. And Rick? Rick will always be stuck.

**Author's Note:**

> The author of this piece intends no insult, slander, or copyright infringement, and is not profiting from this work. This story is a complete work of fiction and does not necessarily reflect on the nature of the individuals featured. This is for entertainment purposes only. If you found this story while Googling your name or the names of your friends, hit the back button now.


End file.
